After four months of basic training, Austin grad Thomas Herrera is ready to get back to what he truly loves — Mixed Martial Arts Fighting.

Herrera has fought for nearly three years and he has an official record of 6-2 overall. He’ll be making his return when he competes in a Driller Promotions MMA Event at the Holiday Inn in Austin.

Herrera said joining the National Guard gave him some good experience and he also has a new view on fighting.

“It definitely changed my perspective on combat,” he said. “You always have to imagine your opponent is training much harder than you. That needs to be your fuel and you need to work ten times harder.”

Herrera wrestled and played football for the Packers while he attended Austin High School and both sports have given him a lift in MMA fighting. Wrestling taught him how to work hard and football gave him the mindset of knocking his opponents to the ground.

Driller Promotions is the most popular MMA promoter in Minnesota and Herrera is glad to get a chance to compete in one of its events.

“I’m very excited,” he said “I’ve been working tremendously hard on my stand-up portion. I feel very confident in my ground game and I just need to put it all into one.”

Herrera has been training at Impact MMA in the Oak Park Mall and Troy Williams has served as his coach. Besides learning to fight, Herrera has made some major lifestyle changes to stay in shape for fighting.

“I love the training lifestyle, waking up at the crack of dawn, the training, the diet and the exercise,” Herrera said. “I will do it for the rest of my life. Even if I can’t fight at 40 or 50 years old, I’ll still be training other people. I have a genuine passion for it.”

Herrera is glad to have a few wins under his belt in the MMA circuit, but he actually remembers more from his losses.

He said they were learning experiences and they helped humble him.

Now Herrera is learning to focus on the task at hand and put all doubts aside when he begins a fight.

“My opinion on fear is that fear is just an illusion,” he said. “You have to block it out of your mind and not let the fear aspect screw up your game, because once it does that means you’re finished. You can be nervous, because that means you’re human. But you can’t be afraid.”

The event on Oct. 12, which starts at 5:30 p.m. and features 13 fights, will also include Austin’s Andrew Lenway, Randy Braun and Ash Majek.

The event will include three pro fights, including No. 6 ranked Heath Rud against Mark Scudder in the main event.

Herrera is just glad to get the chance to get out and do what he loves.

“I thank everybody for the support,” he said. “I appreciate all of the cheers and recognition I get and it definitely helps me continue, because it’s very grueling.”